Application of Silver Nanoparticles in Cancer Treatment

A special issue of Pharmaceutics (ISSN 1999-4923). This special issue belongs to the section "Nanomedicine and Nanotechnology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 April 2025) | Viewed by 904

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Department of Biomedical and Clinical Sciences, Università degli Studi di Milano, Via G. B. Grassi 74, 20157 Milan, Italy
Interests: nano-oncology; nano-drug delivery; protein nanocages; breast cancer; nano-tracers
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Department of Chemistry, Biology and Biotechnologies, University of Perugia, Via dell'Elce di Sotto 8, 06123 Perugia, Italy
Interests: cell biology; cancer biology; drug development; metal-based nanoparticles; natural products

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Despite the enormous progress made in recent years in terms of research and therapies, cancer continues to be one of the most insidious challenges of modern medicine. Features such as multidrug resistance, recurrence, migration, invasion, and the ability to evade the host's immune system are among the main causes that make the majority of conventional treatments ineffective. To deal with these problems, innovative therapeutic methods have been developed, such as immunotherapy, gene therapy, and the use of metal nanoparticles. Among metal nanoparticles, silver nanoparticles (SNs) are attracting a lot of interest thanks to their anticancer properties, the ability to enhance the efficacy of treatments such as radiotherapy or phototherapy, and the possibility of being used in combination with other nanoparticles. Furthermore, properties such as plasmon resonance make SNs interesting diagnostic tools.

This Special Issue aims to highlight and collect research articles and reviews focused on the use of silver nanoparticles for the treatment and diagnosis of cancer.

We are pleased to invite researchers to contribute their original work or reviews concerning the synthesis and characterization of innovative anticancer SNs, in vitro and in vivo application of SNs, and clinical trials and studies focused on the application of SNs as diagnostic and theranostic tools.

Dr. Serena Mazzucchelli
Dr. Francesco Ragonese
Guest Editors

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Keywords

  • silver nanoparticles
  • nanomedicine
  • nanotechnology
  • cancer therapy
  • cancer diagnostics
  • cancer theranostics
  • tumor targeting
  • drug delivery systems
  • in vitro studies
  • in vivo studies

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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19 pages, 15322 KiB  
Article
Silver Nanoparticles Decorated UiO-66-NH2 Metal-Organic Framework for Combination Therapy in Cancer Treatment
by Francesco Ragonese, Letizia Trovarelli, Lorenzo Monarca, Sofia Girolmoni, Flora Ballarino, Ferdinando Costantino and Bernard Fioretti
Pharmaceutics 2025, 17(4), 512; https://doi.org/10.3390/pharmaceutics17040512 - 13 Apr 2025
Viewed by 321
Abstract
Background: Nanomedicine has shown significant promise in advancing cancer diagnostics and therapeutics. In particular, nanoparticles (NPs) offer potential for overcoming limitations associated with conventional therapies, such as off-target toxicity and side effects. Among the various NPs, silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) have garnered attention [...] Read more.
Background: Nanomedicine has shown significant promise in advancing cancer diagnostics and therapeutics. In particular, nanoparticles (NPs) offer potential for overcoming limitations associated with conventional therapies, such as off-target toxicity and side effects. Among the various NPs, silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) have garnered attention due to their cytotoxic and genotoxic properties in cancer cells. However, despite their potential, the optimization of AgNPs efficacy often necessitates combination strategies with other therapeutic agents. This study explores the potential of AgNPs integrated with Zr-based metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) UiO-66 for drug delivery, to enhance cancer therapy. Methods: We decorated amino-terephthalic based UiO-66-NH2 with AgNPs and loaded it with the chemotherapeutic agent cisplatin (Cis-Pt) to make the UiO-66-NH2@AgNPs@Cis-Pt. A preliminary MTT assay was conducted to evaluate the cytotoxic effects of the nanocomposite on several glioblastoma and other tumour cell lines, including U251, U87, GL261, HeLa, RKO, and HepG2. Results: Our results demonstrate that UiO-66-NH2@AgNPs@Cis-Pt and its combinations exhibit enhanced cytotoxicity compared to individual components such as AgNPs and Cis-Pt. Conclusions: This work offers preliminary insights into the potential of AgNP-functionalized MOFs as effective drug and delivery platforms, particularly in the context of combination therapy for cancer treatment. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Application of Silver Nanoparticles in Cancer Treatment)
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